Brenna Connolly handed out four assists to set the Fairfield Unviersity Women's Lacrosse single-season record as the Stags toppled host Iona, 12-9, in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference action on Wednesday afternoon in New Rochelle. Connolly, who also scored a goal in today's effort, surpasses Kristen Coleman's program standard with 28 assists on the season. With the win, Fairfield (8-6, 4-2 MAAC) clinches a berth in the upcoming MAAC Championship. The Stags will advance to the conference postseason for the 13th consecutive campaign. Iona falls to 7-8 overall and 2-4 in the MAAC. Connolly's four assists run her total to 28 on the season. She also stands with 67 career helpers, four behind Coleman's Fairfield career record of 71. This spring, Connolly leads the Stags and ranks among the MAAC leaders with 54 total points. In today's action, Taylor Mitchell paced the Fairfield scoring effort a hat trick. Kathleen Hulseman added a pair of goals with one apiece coming from the crosses of Connolly, Brooke Gallagher, Diana DeVita, Olivia Russell, Kelly Horning, Lily Crager and Meaghan Graham. Paced by Russell's 28 markers, the Stags boast five players with 20 or more goals for the second straight season. In addition to Connolly's four assists, the Stags' attack was facilitated by one helper apiece from DeVita, Gallagher and Russell. Paulina DiFatta turned in another strong performance in the cage with 11 saves to go along with four ground balls. The defense in front of DiFatta pressured Iona into 21 turnovers, including three caused turnovers credited to Katie FitzPatrick and to apiece for Erin Bauman, Erin Mammele and Maggie Reynolds. In the midfield, Mammele hauled in six draw controls to extend her Fairfield single-season (94) and career (188) record on the draw. Iona was led by two goals apiece for Pamela Giordano and Katelyn Noschese. Shannon McCaffrey made six saves for the Gaels. After Iona started the scoring, back-to-back tallies from Mitchell put the Stags on top, 2-1, just three minutes into the game. Crager would add a marker to extend the margin to 3-1 before the Gaels ended the run. The clubs began trading goals at that point out to a 5-5 deadlock with 7:52 to play. The Stags broke the stalemate with a Horning goal and Hulseman followed with a marker to send Fairfield into the locker room holding a 7-5 advantage. The Stags maintained their momentum through the intermission with Hulseman and Mitchell each netting an early goal to extend the lead to 9-5. However, Iona responded with four of the next five markers to shave the deficit to 10-9 with 14:00 to go. The Stags' defense took over at that point, keeping the Gaels off the board for the remainder of the contest. Gallagher and Graham added goals during that final stretch of action to round out the 12-9 final. The Stags now head to Buffalo for a Saturday clash at Canisius. The Griffs are currently 8-7 overall and 4-1 in the MAAC. Opening draw from Demske Sports Complex is set for 11 a.m. and will be broadcast on ESPN+. Fairfield wraps up the regular season the following Wednesday, April 25, at Manhattan. Additional information regarding the Stags' 2018 MAAC postseason appearance will be available on FairfieldStags.com as seedings and matchups are finalized throughout the remainder of the regular season.